I have realised that my last two writings about Swiss Rock pioneers (here and here) may have been quite harsh, therefore I decided to follow a much “safer” approach this time and write about one of the legendary bands of the Swiss Hard Rock scene, that is Toad.
Having their roots in Basel (a city which due to its location next to France and Germany bares a - relatively- much more international character that the rest of the German-speaking part of the country) Toad were formed in 1970. Their first 3 members had tenures in bands as important as Hawkwind (guitarist Vittorio 'Vic' Vergeat) and Brainticket (bassist Werner Fröhlich and drummer Cosimo Lampis) and this experience possibly safeguarded the “smooth” start they had.
Toad recorded their first and self-titled album in London having as engineer Martin Birch (who amongst numerous others has also worked with artists like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult and Fleetwood Mac…) featuring in vocals Benjamin Jaeger who left the group after the recording of the album. For the rest of their career, vocal duties in the band will be shared mainly between Vergeat and Fröhlich. It is their debut album on which I will put the focus on this writing.
Toad (the album) is a fine Hard Rock testament, very much responsible for the inception of the Swiss Hard Rock scene by becoming an influence for later local artists such as Krokus and (even) Celtic Frost. Sounding (very much owning to Birch) amazingly heavy and clear (just notice the bass sound) with songs like the 12-minute Life Goes On revealing the more progressive direction that Toad would follow in their later albums, it met significant regional success but not much outside their own country.
That was very much a pity - considering the qualities of the album - but it is though a “mistake” that can be easily rectified since several of its CD rereleases can be easily found (including also additional tracks). Lovers of Deep Purple and other similar Hard Rock bands should not hesitate to listen to a(n almost) classic.